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American Morning
New Details About Day Carol Ann Gotbaum Died; Dow and S&P Break Records
Aired October 10, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: So did he pull it off? We'll talk about that.
But we begin this morning with a CNN exclusive, and new details about the day that Carol Ann Gotbaum died. Now for the first time we hear from her husband, Noah. Noah says that if the airline or the police treated his wife with some dignity, she might still be alive today. Gotbaum mysteriously died in police custody last week at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. There you see some of the surveillance video of police taking her down. She was arrested and handcuffed when she went into a rage after missing a plane, the flight that was supposed to take her to alcohol rehab.
Now Alina Cho has been following the story closely, and she joins us live now with exclusive details.
Hi, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, Kiran. Good morning.
You know, we should be clear to our viewers we obtained this audio tape with Noah Gotbaum's blessing. And it is the first time you'll hear him the husband of Carol Ann Gotbaum in his own words, in a passionate eulogy delivered on Sunday in New York. Gotbaum talked about how he thought his wife's death could have been prevented.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
NOAH GOTBAUM, CAROL ANN GOTBAUM'S HUSBAND: If the airline or the police authority had treated Carol with some modicum of sensitivity and grace, or one single person at that airport had put an arm around her shoulder, sat her down and given her some protection, she might still be with us today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Gotbaum also made an admission. He talked about how the family was ashamed to seek help for her alcoholism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOTBAUM: My beautiful girl was so ashamed to seek help and many of us, myself included, perpetuated that, because we simply didn't understand the disease. We said it can't be. It must be something else causing this. These are diseases that have to be understood and treated, not swept under the rug, demonized and hushed up. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: There are also new details about what happened on the day she died. CNN has learned that Gotbaum arrived at Phoenix airport completely sober. We know that because she sent a series of e-mails, made phone calls and was, quote, "entirely lucid," according to our source. We're also told that Gotbaum then went to a sports bar at the airport. She had a bite to eat, by all accounts, and likely a few drinks.
Our source says when the toxicology report comes out in the next several weeks, it will show that there was indeed alcohol in her system.
Now CNN has also learned that Gotbaum flew into a rage not when she missed her initial connection, as has been widely reported, but after she found out she could not get on the next flight. When a stranger kindly offered to give up his seat, Gotbaum was told she couldn't do that because it was a, quote, "security breach, and that explains something that a lot of people have been wondering about, why she started yelling and screaming -- Quote -- "I'm not a terrorist."
Now one other interesting detail about the investigation is that the medical examiner, the same woman who performed the autopsy on Gotbaum, actually went into the same holding cell where Gotbaum died and recreated the scene essentially. The doctor was handcuffed and shackled, even secured to a bench, and she was able to do this, interestingly enough, because she was about the same size as Gotbaum. Both were 5'7, and there was only about a five-pound difference in their weight. We're told, Kiran, there are photographs of that recreation, but so far those pictures have not been made public.
CHETRY: That is unbelievable, certainly some new details that shed some light on why she seemed to have that meltdown at the airport.
Alina Cho, thank you.
CHO: You bet.
(NEWSBREAK)
CHETRY: Well, it's time now to check in with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents for other stories new this morning, and we start with business. The Dow and the S&P both breaking records. Ali Velshi is at our business update desk with details for us.
There you are this morning. Hi, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
You know, I think a lot of people DO find this surprising, commenting on Fred Thompson's, the economy is good. There are different pieces of the economy, but the part that involves your investments, if you are a smart investor, is looking good. Let's look at what the Dow did yesterday. The Dow gained over 100 points, 120 points to be precise. The Nasdaq up 16 points. The S&P up almost 13. Now the Dow, that takes it to a record close. The S&P also at a record close, and the S&P has gained now 100 percent in the last five years. Now that's pretty varied, 500 stocks. So if you were just invested in the S&P which is, by the way, many people invest with their 401(k)s or IRA's -- they put it in some fund that matches the S&P -- you'd have doubled your money in five years.
Take a look at what the stock market has done just this year alone. If you started on January 1st and invested in the 30 stocks in the Dow, You've gained 14 percent. The S&P 500 up 10.5 percent. And the Nasdaq up 15 percent. The Nasdaq is now at a 6 1/2-year high. This is spread over to Asia, by the way. Asian markets closed higher, Shanghai recording its 71st record close of the year. We're in earnings season right now. So for those of you who pay close attention to your stocks, it's report card time, happens four times a year. The companies that you invest in are going to tell you exactly how they've been doing. So we'll keep a close eye on that. We're also watching the Chrysler-UAW negotiations -- Kiran.
CHETRY: We have four more hours until the possibility of the walkout.
VELSHI: Until a possible strike. We'll keep you posted.
All right, Ali, thanks a lot.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: Two stories about food fears to tell you about this morning. Important, so listen up -- 70,000 pounds of Aliki Chicken Broccoli Fettucine Alfredo, made with white chicken, have been recalled because of concerned about listeria bacteria, which can cause listeriosis. It's a bad disease. You don't want to get that. Nobody so far is sick, though.
And the Department of Agriculture says you should not eat Banquet frozen turkey and chicken pot pies with the code P-9 on the packaging. There is no recall of those pies yet, but they may be linked to 139 cases of salmonella poisoning in 30 states.
CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now from Atlanta.
That would seem to be a lot of cases, Sanjay, before the company issues a recall.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, pretty it's remarkable. It's also remarkable how much time we spend talking about food recalls this year, John. You just talked specifically about an investigation that is ongoing, the USDA and the CDC actually looking specifically into that salmonella contamination -- let's put up that full screen again -- talking specifically about the products here, the Banquet brand frozen, not-ready-to-eat chicken and turkey pot pies. Again, look for those specifically. Also the generic store-brand chicken and turkey pot pies with that P-9 on the side panel. Keep that up for a second so people can get a glimpse of that.
This has affected a lot of people, as you said, John. It's amazing how many can be affected by these large distribution chains. Look across the map at how many different states, about 30 different states, 139 people are affected. Made some calls, and around 23 people have already been hospitalized as well. So these are pretty significant illnesses. It's not just a couple of awful days, but people actually needing to go to the hospital. You can take a look there. Wisconsin has been affected the most dramatically, 19 cases, Pennsylvania, 13 cases, and Missouri, 11 cases. Lots of different states affected, though, as you can see there.
If you have any of these pot pies, what the USDA is saying is just throw them out. Don't try and keep them; throw them out.
Conagra, to be clear, has actually not issued a recall of this specific product. They're saying the problem seems to be undercooking of the pot pies more so than any kind of contamination, but they are going to give a full refund if you take the product back to the store -- John.
ROBERTS: I can imagine right now, Sanjay, that anybody who has eaten that chicken pot pie across the country is beginning to feel ill at this very second. How can somebody tell if they just have a little bit of natural stomach upset or if they're actually poisoned by salmonella bacteria?
GUPTA: Well, you know, the one thing, John, a lot of people may get salmonella poisoning or contamination and not know they had it. It can pass through your system without you getting sick. But you're absolutely right, you know, there's about 40,000 people a year who do get some sort of salmonella poisoning. It's the sort of symptom that you might expect with food poisoning. It's nausea. It's vomiting. But you can also get fevers. You can get chills, and here's the thing that's also important. It can come on up to 72 hours after you eat, so you really have to sort of trace back what you've eaten over the last couple of days to see if, in fact, that might be the culprit -- John.
ROBERTS: Sounds like, though, Sanjay, if people are ending up in the hospital, the symptoms are pretty severe. So if you feel like that, I guess, go see your doctor.
Sanjay Gupta, we'll see you a little bit later on -- Kiran.
GUPTA: Absolutely. All right.
CHETRY: Well, George Clooney comes into your E.R. -- would you be able to keep quiet about it? Well, as many as 40 employees of a New Jersey hospital are suspended for possibly blabbing about their star patient. Clooney was taken to Palisades Medical Center after a motorcycle accident last month. The 46-year-old actor broke a rib and had some other cuts in the crash, and his girlfriend, Sarah Larson, broke her foot. Both of them were treated there.
Well, an internal investigation turned up employees who accessed his records, which is a violation of policy standards, well some or all of them may have leaked the information to the media. Clooney did talk about it, issuing a statement. "This is the first i've heard of it. And while I very much believe in a patient's right to privacy, I would hope that this could be settled without suspending medical workers."
Fred Thompson made his first GOP debate debut. So how did he do? We'll ask the vice president's daughter who is part of his campaign team. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
CHETRY: Much of the political focus is on candidate Fred Thompson, and how he performed in his first debate with his battle- hardened GOP opponents. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: Do you regret waiting so long?
FRED THOMPSON (R), PRES. CANDIDATE: No, I don't think I waited too long. It seems about right to me. I've enjoyed watching these fellows. I've got to admit, it was getting a little boring without me, but...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Joining us now from Washington, the co-chair of the Thompson National Campaign Leadership Team, Liz Cheney, who also is the vice president's daughter.
Liz, thanks for being with us this morning.
LIZ CHENEY, CO-CHAIR, THOMPSON NATL. CAMPAIGN LEADERSHIP TEAM: Thanks for having me, Kiran.
CHETRY: How do you think your candidate did last night?
CHENEY: Well, we're very pleased. We think that the American people got the chance to see the real Fred Thompson, and also to hear straight talk from him about how important it is to keep America safe, what he'll do to keep the country safe, how he feels so strongly about keeping taxes low, and allowing American businesses and American individuals the opportunity to really thrive, and grow and experience prosperity in our nation, so we feel very good about it this morning.
CHETRY: Let's take a look at some of the recent polls. They show that Thompson hasn't made a lot of ground, hasn't picked up a lot of ground, since officially announcing his candidacy in early September. His numbers are pretty much the same. We look at July and look at now.
Was it a mistake for him to wait so long to jump in the race, and to give other people the chance to gain in the poll, people like Mitt Romney?
CHENEY: No, I don't think so at all. I think that, frankly, our campaigns in this country have become too long. And I think if you ask most voters, do you think this campaign is too short or that it should go on longer, they'd say absolutely not. And I think Senator Thompson was very committed and dedicated to doing this on his calendar, to getting into the race when he thought it was the right time, and we feel good also about the polls, and about how he's doing in the key early primary states, in Iowa, New Hampshire, Florida, South Carolina, so we feel good. We think that we're on the right track here, and we think his positioning in the polls is exactly where we'd like it to be right now.
CHETRY: You know, a lot of the critics, the buzzword has been "lazy" as it relates to Fred Thompson. It's been spoofed on "Saturday Night Live." It's been written up in a lot of the papers. In fact, former White House counselor Dan Bartlett actually called Thompson, quote, "The campaign's biggest dud."
Are you guys -- what are you guys doing to turn around that type of criticism of your candidate?
CHENEY: Well, I think, you know, first of all, we don't sort of look for affirmation on "Saturday Night Live" or the papers. I think "Saturday Night Live" does a great job. They have some funny skits, but that's not reality.
I think that, as voters get to see Fred Thompson, they see him out there, they hear him talk about the issues and his dedication and his commitment to those things that really matter to American voter this is time around, all of those myths will be dispelled.
I think that, you know, as you showed a few minutes ago in your poll, people are very concerned about national security in this country. That's the issue that they care most about, and that's one of the issues that he talks a lot about, how important it is to recognize that we are a nation at war, war has been declared on us, and that we've got to do everything we can and everything it takes to make sure we win that war.
The second most important issue is the economy, and you heard last night his concerns about Social Security, about the need to make sure that we've got those entitlements there for future generations, and about a real dedication to making the reforms necessary to do that.
CHETRY: Liz Cheney, Thompson National Campaign Leadership Team member, thanks for being with us this morning.
CHENEY: Thanks, Kiran. Great to be here.
CHETRY: By the way, for the most up-to-the minute news, political news, any time, anywhere, go to CNNpolitics.com. It's the Internet's premiere destination for political news -- John.
ROBERTS: Do we hear the bell somewhere? Taco Bell making a run for the border. The chain, once again, trying to open up a restaurant in Mexico. A previous effort some 15 years ago failed. Critics said it was like bringing ice to the arctic. They actually Americanized the menu some, adding french fries and soft ice cream.
And new information in the Madeleine McCann case, why British police are now asking tourists who stayed at the resort where the little girl went missing for DNA samples. What are they looking for? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Just turning 26 minutes after the hour. And now a CNN exclusive, behind prison walls with the D.C. sniper. New videotape has emerged of John Allen Muhammad, five years after he and Lee Boyd Malvo terrorized the nation's capital on their deadly shooting spree.
Soledad O'Brien goes inside the minds of the D.C. snipers for CNN's Special Investigation Unit tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: This is where John Allen Muhammad resides now -- on death row at Sussex One State Prison near Richmond, Virginia. He is still defiant.
JOHN ALLEN MUHAMMAD: Hello, everyone. Y'all thought I was finished. I'm still on death row fighting.
O'BRIEN: This is a one-minute, 12-second videotape made inside Sussex One state prison, and handed to CNN during the course of our reporting in the Caribbean. A shackled John Muhammad talks to the camera in the presence of two unidentified women. What he wants, he says, is to establish accurate information about the time he spent with Lee Boyd Malvo in the Caribbean.
MUHAMMAD: So that they can get a better understanding on our relationship with each other, not just the distorted relationship that has been told to the news media.
O'BRIEN: He tends the video on a note of gratitude.
MUHAMMAD: Thank you for your patience and kindness, and your sacrifice that you all always made. Peace and may God be with you all. Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Be sure to catch Soledad O'Brien's special "Minds of the D.C. Snipers," tonight at 8:00 Eastern. Soledad will also take a look at how Muhammad and his accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, came to know each other, and began that reign of terror.
I remember being in the area when those guys were out there, and you'd be pumping gas and you'd duck down behind your car.
CHETRY: The advice the police were giving, because they were at a loss. My parents live in the area as well. Walk in a zigzag pattern when you go to the grocery store. I mean, it really was terrifying.
ROBERTS: I went to the same Home Depot once where that woman was shot, and kind of a chill running through your spine the entire time.
CHETRY: Well, we look forward to that special.
Meanwhile, a story coming up that you can't miss -- a New York lawmaker just really goes crazy, dropping the F-bomb 15 times in about 60 seconds during this interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know what kind of (EXPLETIVE DELETED) game you're playing, but that's not the game I -- play. If you're going to ask me -- get out of my -- office before I beat the -- out of you right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: He was definitely a little steamed. So what prompted the tirade, and what is he say being it today? We'll have that story, and your headlines coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: What a beautiful shot this morning, this is Jacksonville, Florida, the sun coming up, very funny John, WJXT, 70 degrees right now, 97 percent humidity. Wow and it's shaping up to be 86 degrees for a high. Is there a little bird right there? That's beautiful. Is that an osprey or something this morning? Hmmm.
ROBERTS: A bald eagle I think. No.
CHETRY: Look at that turkey right there on the camera. And welcome, it is Wednesday, October 10th. I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us.
ROBERTS: Welcome back. I'm John Roberts. The sky was on fire this morning, incredible picture.
Students in Crandon, Wisconsin, will finally return to classes this morning after a weekend shooting rampage that has left the town reeling in grief. 20-year-old Tyler Peterson gunned down six people at a party early Sunday morning. Police say a seventh victim, 21- year-old Charles (INAUDIBLE) was shot three times but survived by playing dead until Peterson left the house. Later, during a confrontation with police, authorities say Peterson shot himself three times in the head. The last bullet took his life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.B. VAN HOLLEN, WISCONSIN ATTORNEY GENERAL: Each of the three head shots were fired while the gun was in contact with his skin or extremely close to the skin. These shots were fired by a handgun. These three head wounds are consistent with self-inflicted wounds. And not consistent with long-range rifle fire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You see initial reports said that Peterson was killed by a police sniper. The attorney general says Peterson was shot once by police but that was in the biceps. Kiran.
CHETRY: There are exclusive new details this morning about the day that Carol Gotbaum died in custody at the Phoenix Airport. For the first time we're hearing from her husband, Noah, as he delivered a passionate eulogy at Gotbaum's funeral on Sunday. We obtained the audiotape with Noah Gotbaum's blessing. He talked about how he thought his wife's death could have been prevented.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
NOAH GOTBAUM, HUSBAND OF CAROL GOTBAUM: If the airlines or the police authority had treated Carol with some modicum of sensitivity and grace, for one single person at that airport, had put an arm around her shoulder, sat her down and given her some protection, she might still be with us today.
(END AUDIOTAPE)
CHETRY: Noah Gotbaum also talked about how the family was ashamed to seek help for her alcoholism. CNN has also learned that Gotbaum arrived at the Phoenix Airport "completely sober." They say we know that because she sent a series of e-mails, made phone calls and was entirely lucid. We were told that Gotbaum then went to a sports bar at the airport, had a bite to eat and likely a few drinks. Our source says that when the toxicology reports come out in the next several weeks, it will show that there was indeed alcohol in her system.
Other headlines new this morning. A warning from the FBI for law enforcement officers in Dallas, an alleged leader of the Aryan Brotherhood is trying to get names of federal agents, state troopers and police officers. The FBI says to track down the addresses to either rob or threaten them.
Police in the Madeleine McCann case want DNA samples and fingerprints from guests who stayed at the resort where little Madeleine went missing. They "London Times" saying that Portuguese have samples from the McCann's hotel which they cannot identify. And British police are now interviewing former guests.
ROBERTS: Coming up now to 35 minutes after the hour. Well, he jumped in the race late and he finally made his first appearance in a debate. Fred Thompson on the stage last night with the other GOP candidates. Our John King is in Dearborn, Michigan, this morning, where he watched the debate last night. So John, everybody had waited and wondered how Fred Thompson was going to be. What's the quick look at how you think he did?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well his camp, John, says that they are reasonably happy with the debate. They acknowledged he seemed a little rusty right off the top. And even some of his own advisers say he could have showed a little bit more fire and a little bit more passion but they say it was the first debate, they are glad it was behind him.
And his main goal was to come in since the subject was largely economic and say a Fred Thompson administration would mean lower taxes, smaller government, keeping spending under control. They believe he accomplished that goal so they're satisfied. They say he could, of course, be better. They thought he loosened up and lightened up as the debate moved on. There will be many more debates to come. But he did what he wanted to do is what they're saying. The other campaign say they weren't that all impressed and we'll see how we go from here.
ROBERTS: He was often shoved aside by Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney who got this feud going on. What's that all about?
KING: Well, if you look at the state polls, John, Mitt Romney is ahead in Iowa and ahead in New Hampshire. If you look at the national polls even though Fred Thompson has moved up quickly, Rudy Giuliani is still ahead in the national polls. So, you have the two front-runners if you will, circling each other. A lot of the debate has been about social issues. What would you do about abortion? What would you do about same-sex marriage?
Now, they're fighting over another bedrock part of the Republican base. Who is the fiscal conservative? Mayor Giuliani suggesting spending went up. These went up when Romney was governor of Massachusetts. Romney saying hey wait a minute, I cut taxes when you were New York City mayor, you left your successor a big deficit. So, you know, in this campaign is largely spent fighting over social issues, two of the leading candidates, Romney and Giuliani now mixing it up and it's getting sharp, the elbows are over fiscal policy.
ROBERTS: Hey, they are also getting some sharp elbows from Dan Bartlett, who is the White House counsel for the president for so many years. What's Bartlett up to there ringing in with his displeasure on this crop of candidates?
KING: This morning it's my understanding that Dan Bartlett gave an interview in which he tried to clean some of that up. But it is no secret that if you are a Bush ally, a George W. Bush close ally you're not happy with the field of candidates that are increasingly critical of the current Republican president, the man you serve. John McCain has probably been the most critical especially on the war but also on some other issues but more and more the other candidates, Mitt Romney has been saying that the Republican Party has not led. It went to Washington to change Washington.
Instead it became a hostage of Washington, has let spending go up, has not controlled government. So, more and more these Republican candidates as they try to win the leadership of the post George W. Bush Republican Party have been criticizing him so the close allies and Dan Bartlett is about as close to George W. Bush as you can get are getting increasingly critical of this field. But he cleaned it up a bit this morning, they're all trying to go back to Ronald Reagan's 11th commandment which is essentially is aimed at the Democrats, not other Republicans.
ROBERTS: Difficult to clean it up though when you call Fred Thompson the biggest dud in the campaign. John King this morning. John, thanks. Kiran
CHETRY: Well, a New York City councilman lost his cool, all of it, caught on tape and now it turned into quite a youtube sensation with thousands and thousands of hits. James Oddo dropped a few "f" bombs and threatened a TV crew once he realized it was actually a gag and the interview was a bit for a Norwegian comedy show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
INTERVIEWER: Isn't against the constitution that Barack Obama runs for president, considering the fact that is he not an American citizen?
JAMES ODDO: He's an American citizen. He's a United States senator.
INTERVIEWER: I read somewhere that he's African-American. Do you really think that Hillary really stands a chance, after that embarrassing incident with the cigar?
ODDO: Hey, Chris? What the -- do you have me in -- who are these -- people in my office. Get the -- out of here. Get the -- out of my office; just get out of my office. What is this nonsense? Get the -- out of here. Get out of here. Get out of my office. Get, get, get out of my office. Hillary Clinton cigar, Barack Obama? Get the -- out of my office. You think I have time to waste with this [ bleep ]? Get out of my office before I throw you the -- out of my office and take your cameras and throw them the -- out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, there he went. Oddo says he's not worry for throwing the crew out. He did apologize for his foul language. He said, "Great, I was more Tommy Lasorda than I was Thomas Moore." He also says he doesn't know how he's going to face his mom, his girlfriend and her mother.
ROBERTS: They talk tough in Staten Island.
CHETRY: Priorities.
ROBERTS: Get out of my office or I'll beat the -- out of you? Whew!
CHETRY: That's right.
ROBERTS: Yikes! All right. We'll remember that next time we have him on; we'll go easy with him.
Yankees manager Joe Torre getting a strong endorsement from Rudy Giuliani, a light moment from last night's republican debate. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York and a famous Yankees fan was asked to predict if Torre will get fired for the team's latest playoff collapse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Joe Torre is the best manager in the history of the Yankees, at least in the modern era so, and he's my friend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Current mayor and possible presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg also backing Torre but the fiery Yankees owner George Steinbrenner has got the last word. His decision may not come until next week.
But we'd like to know what you think. Joe Torre, because he's such a widely known manager across the country, should he stay or should he go. Cast your vote at CNN.com/am. Right now, 74 percent say he should stay. 26 percent say he should go. In the early going in this poll, the numbers were just about the opposite.
CHETRY: Exactly. All right. We'll see how it ends. You still have time, you still have about another hour and 20 minutes to weigh in.
Well, speaking of weighing in, "Dear Abby" says it's okay to be gay. Jean Phillips who took over her mother's syndicated advice column five years ago, telling the Associated Press that she supports same-sex marriage and that families should accept and love gay family members. "Dear Abby" is carried by 1,400 newspapers around the country. She also says that she's not worried about them having any problem with her views.
Well, all week we've been hearing about different studies, about just how damaging stress can be on your heart. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been looking at the problems and the solutions. Hi, Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. We're getting real specific here, just how much of an impact can a bad job or bad marriage have on your health? You might be surprised by this.
Also, what can you do to try and combat some of that stress as well? That's coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, maybe he just couldn't wait for his chicken fingers or that blue ribbon brownie from Applebee's. A wrecked car in Bloomfield, Colorado is because a 6-year-old boy got behind the wheel. He was determined to get to his local Applebee's. Apparently, he couldn't get grandma's car out of reverse. Witnesses say they could not believe what they were seeing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TYLER FOX, WITNESS: I heard boom! And my whole room rumbled and I looked out my window and nothing was there, so I came out front and the neighbor lady saying, "there he goes, there he goes!" A little kid, 6 years old had put his car seat in the driver's seat of his mom's car, threw it in reverse. Luckily, he went through a parking space. Luckily, he didn't hit a car on this side or the trash can over here and took out the power box that was laying five feet from where it was normally is laying and it was all lopsided and everything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, the little boy crashed into a transformer box by the way, it knocked out phone service to dozens of people nearby. He was not hurt, thank goodness, and he says at least his friends and family says he was very matter-of-fact about describing the mishap. He said he was hungry and wanted to get to Applebee's.
Well, we've been following studies out this week about stress, speaking of stress, your 6-year-old taking your car and driving somewhere.
ROBERTS: That would do it.
CHETRY: How about this, your marriage, your job and how damaging can all that stress be to your health? CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in Atlanta with details and some solutions. Now, the study talks about people who return to high stress jobs after having a heart attack and how worried they should be as well.
GUPTA: Yes, that's right. This is one of the first studies to actually look at that very point. This is one of my favorite topics by the way, this whole relationship between the mind and the body. We're getting some definitive studies now actually looking at this particular thing, in this case, specifically heart attacks, somebody having some sort of heart problem. About 1 million men every year in the United States have a heart attack, about a half of them will actually die. What this study really wanted to look at was the other half, the people who survived the heart attack and then go back to work.
What specifically happens to them and what is the impact of the continued job stress on their specific hearts later on down the line? This study was about 1,000 people and they sort of followed people at intervals after heart problems, six weeks after and then a couple of years after as well. And what they found was sort of interesting, if you have chronic job strain the likelihood of having another heart attack or some sort of significant cardiac problem went up by two times.
Now, what is job strain? That was one of the questions I had. It means high psychological demand but low decision control is how they define that. That's a little tidbit there. Another tidbit in case you're curious, Monday seems to be the day when heart attacks and severe cardiac events occur the most, leading more (INAUDIBLE) to this idea that your job can really have impact on your overall heart health. Kiran. CHETRY: Wow. You know, this other study also talked about the impact of bad marriages, of bad relationships and how that can be damaging to your heart. You know, are doctors addressing this type of thing? I mean, they do an overall physical, they check your heart. Do they talk to you about whether or not you have these emotional stresses in your life and sort of try to help you out there?
GUPTA: Well it's tough because it's hard to be a marriage counselor as well as a doctor, certainly but something we do know is that good marriages can be very good for your health, but bad marriages can be very bad and maybe that makes some intuitive sense to people.
But this is another study actually looking at about 9,000 people and following them along and trying to figure out if they had good marriages by asking them how much anger was in their marriage, how much criticism, how much accusatory behavior and they found that if you had some of those qualities you actually increase your risk of a heart attack or chest pain by about 34 percent. Even after they sort of eliminated confounding things like smoking and bad diet, the risk was still 23 percent higher. So, again a good marriage can be a good thing but a bad marriage can be awfully devastating for you as well.
CHETRY: Stuff to keep in mind, good advice.
GUPTA: For everybody.
CHETRY: Thanks a lot, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Coming up to 48 minutes after the hour. Rob Marciano is tracking extreme weather from the weather center down there in Atlanta and almost along the Mason Dixon line today, Rob, is a demarcation between pleasing fall weather places like New York and the heat that continues.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: I'm glad you're looking forward to that. But yes, you're right, the heat is continuing for the most part but it's beginning to diminish in its intensity. We do have a few; we do have a few record high temperatures to speak of from yesterday. 95 degrees in Richmond. It was 94 degrees in Baltimore. 94 in D.C.. The old record was 87 degrees. In New York City, at JFK, even though they are pretty much out of the hot air, tied a record at 80 degrees.
Had a cold front come through last night? Here is where the leftover rain showers are but it's not going to go away completely. The bottom half of this cool front is kind of hitting the brakes as it heads across the Carolinas. So, it's going to get a kick in the tail by another system that's coming out of the Great Lakes and now will probably stir up more in the way of rain, maybe even a little bit of wind when this guy comes into town. So, kind of a nasty, cool day. Glad you guys are looking forward to more cool weather. You'll get some more wet weather looks like tomorrow. Back to you guys in New York. ROBERTS: All right. Rob, thanks very much. We'll check in with you soon. Kiran.
CHETRY: Some of the top stories on today's political ticker.
The wife of democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was involved in a car accident with a motorcyclist. Michelle Obama was in Iowa campaigning for her husband. She was in that van with five other people. She wasn't hurt. The motorcyclist though was hurt and had to be air lifted to a nearby hospital.
Five democratic presidential candidates seeking to officially withdraw their names from Michigan's January 15th primary, rendering the event virtually insignificant. Senator Barack Obama, Joe Biden, New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich will not campaign in either Michigan or Florida. Both states bucked party rules by scheduling their nominating contests before February 5th.
Political campaigns are often accused of being scripted but directed by a famous Hollywood figure? That's taking it to another level, right? Well, in an appeal for volunteers a tongue and cheek new web video by Hillary Clinton's campaign depicts two earnest Clinton workers getting unsolicited help from Rob Reiner, of course the actor, writer, director, producer, who is backing Clinton's presidential bid.
Well, you can find all of the latest political news around the clock at CNN.com/ticker.
ROBERTS: Yoko Ono creates a last tribute to John Lennon in Iceland. We'll show it to you and tell you why she chose Iceland, that's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: Well, if you're just waking up let's get you caught up right now with a look at today's top headlines. New details about Carol Ann Gotbaum's final moments. Her husband, Noah, said if the airline or police in Phoenix treated his wife with some dignity she might still alive today. Gotbaum died in police custody last week at the Sky Harbor Airport. Alina Cho has got more on that story, coming up at the top of the hour.
Students returning to school this morning in Crandon, Wisconsin, after a weekend shooting rampage by an off duty police officer. 20- year-old Tyler Peterson gunned down six young people at a party. A seventh shooting victim survived by playing dead until Peterson left the house. Investigators say Peterson was a jealous ex-boyfriend and later killed himself during a confrontation with police. He shot himself in the head three times.
Another news incident. This one in New York City, at Columbia University's Teacher's College, a black social justice professor says she saw the noose pinned to her office door when she arrived at work yesterday. University police are investigating it as a hate crime. And (INAUDIBLE) from parents whose children died in facilities for troubled teenagers. Investigators focused on ten deaths since 1990 and found they were due to untrained staff, inadequate food or reckless operations; there is no federal regulation of boot camps.
And another Salmonella scare to tell you about, the Department of Agriculture says you should not eat Banquet frozen turkey and chicken pot pies with a code of P-9 on the packaging. No recall of the pies just yet but health workers say they may be linked to 139 cases of Salmonella poisoning in 30 states.
CHETRY: Well, imagine, the Imagine peace tower as a tribute to John Lennon was unveiled in Reyjavik, Iceland yesterday, on what would have been John Lennon's l67th birthday. Yoko Ono, joined by Ringo Starr urged the world to give peace a chance. Once again, the tower is a beam of light coming from a wishing well. The well has the word "imagine peace" in 24 different languages. Ono says that she chose Iceland because it is an environmentally friendly country.
Well, a new crew is ready for launch to the international space station; in fact, they're heading up in less than two hours. American Peggy Whitson will be the first woman to command a space station crew. And another first, a Malaysian astronaut will be on the crew as well. The third member is a Russian.
ROBERTS: Marion Jones admits to steroid use and gives back her medals. Should teammates who won medals for relays with Marion Jones give those back, too? We'll talk with one of those teammates coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: CNN exclusive. The frantic final moments before a mother of three died at the Phoenix Airport. New details and her husband's emotional good-bye.
Chain reaction. How Marion Jones fall from grace threatens to tarnish her teammates, will they give up their medals?
Plus, drivers beware, no sneaking into handicap parking. A vigilante takes her fight on-line and so can you on this AMERICAN MORNING. And welcome back on this Wednesday, October 10th. Thanks for being with us. I'm John Roberts.
CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry.
Thanks to picture phones and video cameras and the internet, everyone can be a police officer these days.
ROBERTS: This is a really interesting grassroots organization. Wait until you hear from the woman.
CHETRY: We look forward to. But meanwhile, we start with a CNN exclusive. New details about the day that Carol Ann Gotbaum died in mysterious circumstances at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. For the first time, we're hearing from her husband, Noah Gotbaum. He says that if the airline or police had treated his wife with some dignity, she might still be alive today.
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